Mark in Baltimore

Interesting. I always thought it was pronounced "FOR-tay". Thanks for the pronunciation lesson.

It seems that Dictionary.com does not have a clear consensus: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/forte

forte1 /fɔrt, foʊrt or, for 1, ˈfɔrteɪ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[fawrt, fohrt or, for 1, fawr-tey]
–noun 1. a strong point, as of a person; that in which one excels: I don't know what her forte is, but it's not music.
2. the stronger part of a sword blade, between the middle and the hilt (opposed to foible).


The word is derived from the French word fort "strong." A two-syllable pronunciation /ˈfɔrteɪ/[fawr-tey] is increasingly heard, especially from younger educated speakers, perhaps owing to confusion with the musical term forte, pronounced in English as /ˈfɔrteɪ/[fawr-tey] and in Italian as /ˈfɔrtɛ/[fawr-te]. Both the one- and two-syllable pronunciations of forte are now considered standard.